Executive Director
Reatha Tweedie

Reatha served as the City of Marquette's Arts and Culture Department Director for ten years.  In that position she established and managed the City's Arts and Culture Center.  In 2001, she established, along with Nikke Nason, the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Center Youth Theatre program.  She is also a founding member and was the administrator for Lake Superior Theatre and Marquette Symphony Orchestra organizations in Marquette.  Reatha was also instrumental in the establishment of Pine Mountain Music Festival. 

Under her direction the Arts and Culture Department recieved the State of Michigan Governors Arts Award for Outstanding Cultureal Institution in 2004.  The City of Marquette was named a Cool City in 2004 as well as named in the "100 Best Art Towns in America" in 2005. 

As Director of the Marquette Arts and Culture Department and Center, Tweedie has been an advocate for the importance of arts and culture as a major component in the economic, social, and educational development of a community.  Tweedie developed and implemented a City employee orientation program, coordinated the facilitation of the City mission and vision statements and established a communications plan for the City. 

Photo courtesy of Lemons Studio Photography

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Artistic Director
Nikke Nason

Nikke Nason grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and has lived in Marquette for the past 14 years. She received a B.S. in Theatre from Northern Michigan University. She was employed by the City of Marquette for eleven years beginning as a Clerical Aide, moving to Arts Education Director, and enduring her tenure as the Arts Administration Director for the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Center.

Nikke, with executive direction from Reatha Tweedie, was the founding director of the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Center Youth Theatre program which began in 2011.  She has directed or advised all of the youth theatre productions and is very proud of how much the program has evolved and the number of youth that it has served.

Nikke has served on various arts and cultural boards in Marquette and throughout Michigan inclusive of ArtServe Michigan, Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies, Lake Superior Theatre, City Liaison for the Marquette Sister Cities Committee and Arts and Culture Committee, Pine Mountain Music Festival, First Nighters Club, Marquette Area Public School Kaufman Auditorium Steering Committee, along with various city wide projects and events. 
Nikke is proud to have founded, alongside Camilla Mingay, the Blueberry Dance Festival and has worked on numerous dance productions and concerts. 

Nikke is currently serving as a Graduate Artistic Intern for the Forest Roberts Theatre at Northern Michigan University in the capacity of Box Office Manager.  She is currently a Second Year Candidate for the Master in Public Administration (MPA) at NMU where she is focusing on arts administration and government relations.

Nikke was recently selected by the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Advisory Committee as the winner of the “Community Arts Activist” award for 2012. 

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Choreographer
Jill Grundstrom

Jill Grundstrom has B.S. from Northern Michigan University in Secondary Education with majors in English and French, and a M.A. in Dance Education from New York University in New York City and Genoa, Italy.  She has studied many genres and styles of dance, including Jazz (Al Gilbert and Luigi techniques, Fosse style), Ballet (Cecchetti technique/Italian School, American Ballet Theatre Curriculum), Tap (Al Gilbert technique, Broadway style), Hip-Hop (B-Boy technique, Break dancing), Bollywood, Capoeira, and Contemporary/Modern (Duncan, Hawkins, Graham, and Cunningham techniques). 

Following an internship at American Ballet Theatre®, America’s National Ballet Company, in New York City, she joined the staff of the ABT Department of Education and Training.  While at ABT, she facilitated pre-performance and studio workshops and managed and assistant taught in the Ballet for the Young Dancer programs in Greenwich, CT and Manhattan.  She also assisted in coordinating public and private school outreach initiatives, including the award-winning Make a Ballet on Tour program, which allows students across the United States to experience all aspects of creating and performing a ballet.  Grundstrom is also certified in ABT’s National Training Curriculum. 

Miss Grundstrom’s professional development includes New York City Ballet’s The Nutcracker Project, teacher training with the National Ballet School of Canada, in connection with the National Ballet of Canada, presenting at the National Dance Education Organization annual conference,  Blue Prints for the Arts workshops within the New York City Public Schools, traveling back to New York to continue study with Luigi at his studio and Broadway Dance Center, as well as The PULSE dance workshop in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.               

Miss Grundstrom has taught in private dance studios and public schools in Marquette County, has coached the Marquette Senior High School Dance Team, and was a guest choreographer and performer with the Northern Michigan University Dance Team during her years at NMU.  She was toured with Dance Olympus as a VIP and has won several performance and choreography awards, including the Dance Olympus Overall High Scoring Duo/Trio award for her performance in “Zoot Suit Riot,” as well as the Dance Olympus Teacher’s Choice Award and Overall High Scoring Large Group award for the production of “Bye Bye Blackbird”.  Grundstrom has recently choreographed Beauty and the Beast (MACC Youth Theatre), Kids Sing Broadway (MACC Youth Theatre), Little Women (MACC Youth Theatre), Alice in Wonderland (MACC Youth Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (NMU), Willy Wonka, Jr. (MACC Youth Theatre/Lake Superior Theatre) and for pop singer Adam Whittington.  She also wrote the dance blog for Cat Deeley’s Official Website (the host of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance).

She is currently on faculty at Marquette Center for Dance and Northern Michigan University, where she teaches dance technique classes in the HP Department, and choreographs for the Lake Effect Show Choir and Theatre Department.  

Grundstrom was recently selected by the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Advisory Committee as the winner of the “Outstanding Performing Artist” award for 2011. 

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